Espanyol fans block El Prat airport

Hundreds of Espanyol fans organized a demonstration at Barcelona airport Wednesday when their flights to Scotland for the UEFA Cup final hadn't materialized.

Photo: Espanyol fans block El Prat airport

About 500 fans blocked an access road to El Prat airport after two flights failed to show up, Spanish airport authority AENA said.

Tickets had apparently been bought through a company called Travel Gallery, which had chartered flights with XL Airways, AENA said.

Espanyol is to play Sevilla later Wednesday in Glasgow, Scotland, in the UEFA Cup final.

Sue Lister, a spokeswoman for XL, said the airline had received an inquiry but no planes had been chartered.

"We had a request from a broker to carry passengers from Barcelona to Glasgow way back, a long time ago, but it came to nothing," Lister said.

Lister said a Boeing 747 had been chartered to leave Seville airport in southern Spain carrying 500 fans.

Because of the protests in Barcelona, AENA said one replacement flight for 192 Espanyol fans had been secured with Spanish airline Iberia, and officials were working to find a second plane to carry the remaining fans.